Rack for trusses

ABSTRACT

A rack for carrying trusses in inverted position which includes a pair of substantially parallel side rails fixed to the bed of a conveyance. Upwardly extending standards at one end of the rails support the forward, end portions of the trusses; independently secured to the bed at the rear end of the rails is a rotatable frame which supports the central portions of the trusses; and the rear portions of the trusses extend beyond the rear of the conveyance. The frame is pivotably mounted on a shaft and includes a pair of lattice like side elements which project radially from the opposite ends of said shaft to provide lateral support for the trusses. Extending between the side elements are two sloping, bottom support plates which converge to form an open, V-shaped trough having substantially the same slope as the trusses near their inverted peak, with one plate on each side thereof. The frame may be locked in carrying position with the Vshaped trough opening substantially upward. The trusses are dumped from the conveyance by pivoting the frame until the Vshaped trough opens toward the rear of the conveyance and the rear portions of the trusses touch the ground.

United States atent [72] inventor 44035 [21 Appl. No. 844,332 [22] Filed July 24, 1969 [45] Patented Sept. 7, 1971 {54] RACK FDR TRUSSES 8 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

[52] 11.5.1111. 214/501, 214/77 [51] Int. Cl. 1160p 11/041 [50] Field ofSearch 214/501,

Primary Examiner-Albert .l. Makay Attorney-Fay, Sharpe and Mulholland ABSTRACT: A rack for carrying trusses in inverted position which includes a pair of substantially parallel side rails fixed to the bed of a conveyance. Upwardly extending standards at one end of the rails support the forward, end portions of the trusses; independently secured to the bed at the rear end of the rails is a rotatable frame which supports the central portions of the trusses; and the rear portions of the trusses extend beyond the rear of the conveyance. The frame is pivotably mounted on a shaft and includes a pair of lattice like side elements which project radially fromthe opposite ends of said shaft to provide lateral support for the trusses. Extending between the side elements are two sloping, bottom support plates which converge to form an open, V-shaped trough having substantially the same slope as the trusses near their inverted peak, with one plate on each side thereof. The frame may be locked in carrying position with the V-shaped trough opening substantially upward. The trusses are dumped from the conveyance by pivoting the frame until the V-shaped trough opens toward the rear of the conveyance and the rear portions of the trusses touch the ground.

FIG. 7

PATENTED SEP 719m SHEET 1 OF 3 INVENTOR. MAURICE F. SHAVE ATTORNEYS.

PATENTEDSEP YIQYI 3 603,45

SHEET H I]? 3 INVENTOR. MAURICE F SHAVE J V X ATTORNEYS.

RACK FOR TRUSSES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION With the advent of the prefabricated home, it is customary to have precut and preassembled roof trusses for a particular home design. These trusses are then banded together in a group and transported to the building site.

Thus, a need has arisen in the home building field for a rack to be supported on a conveyance which will allow easy loading and unloading of these banded trusses. Thereby the time and labor necessary for loading and unloading can be reduced and a more stable transporting device provided with less chance of damage to the trusses.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A two-section rack was conceived to fill this need. The first section includes a pair of side rails which are fixed to the horizontal bed of a conventional conveyance. Vertically extending standards project upward from the forward end of said rails and a crosspiece extends between the standards for supporting one end of the trusses.

The second section includes a pivotable frame mounted on a shaft which is independently fixed to the bed adjacent the rear ends of the side rails. The frame includes two lattice work side elements of generally trapezoidal shape which project radially from each end of the shaft to hold the midsection of the trusses in inverted upright position. Two converging bottom support plates extend between the side elements to form an open V-shaped trough with the surfaces of the trough substantially conforming to the slope of the trusses on each side of their inverted peak. The rear end portions of the trusses project rearwardly beyond the rear of the conveyance.

Locking means hold the pivotable frame in a fixed upright position during movement from one location to another.

Unloading of the trusses is accomplished at the construction site by unlocking the unitary rear frame and allowing it to pivot about the shaft whereby the V-shaped trough is tilted to the rear. This allows the rear end portions of the trusses to descent and touch the ground.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows the novel rack assembled on a truck and sup porting a group of trusses;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the pivotable rear frame of the rack and includes the locking means for the frame;

FIG. 3 is an end elevational view of FIG. 2 taken along line 3-3;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view taken along line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the frame similar to FIG. 4 with the frame tilted to unload position;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 4.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. I shows a rack indicated generally at 10 supported on the bed I2 of a truck M. A banded group of trusses 16 is shown supported on the rack 10 ready for transportation, and shown in the unload position in phantom.

The forward section of the rack includes a pair of parallel side rails I8 which are secured to each side of the truck bed 12. Along the upper edge of each rail 18 are a plurality of slots 20 to accommodate books or other connecting devices on the ends of chains or straps 22 which loop over the trusses and hold them in place during transportation from one point to another. Conventional toggle latches or cam operated takeup means 341 are provided for each chain.

At the forward end of each rail I8 is a vertically extending standard 21 and a crosspiece 23 extends between them to support the forward end of the banded trusses.

The rear section 25 ofthe rack 10 includes two cylindrica bearings 26 which are secured to the truck bed 12 by bolts 28 and supported in the bearings 26 is a cylindrical shaft or axle 30. Circumscribing each end of the shaft is a pillar block 32 which in turn is fixed to a gusset plate 34, 35.

A U-shaped metal base member 36 is welded across each gusset plate 34, 35 and extends beyond the edges thereof to form part of a trapezoidal side element. Welded on each end of eachbase member 36 is a U-shaped column 38 and 40; the rear column 38 is shorter than the forward column 40, their upper ends being bridged by a welded strut 42 for stability. Additional stability is provided by intermediate support beam 441 welded between the front and rear columns at approximately one-third the height of the trapezoid. The beam 44 is welded to the longer gusset plate 35 for additional support.

As best seen in FIG. 5, two flat, bottom support plates 48 and 50 extend between the base elements 36 and converge to form a substantially Vshaped open trough to support the trusses near their inverted peak 52. I

A lever pocket 54 welded to the forward most bottom plate 50 and to the base 36 is adapted to telescopingly receive an extension 56 on one end of a lever arm 58. A chain 62 secured to the lever arm at 60, hooks into one of the slots 20 in a rail 18 and a toggle latch or cam operated takeup means 64 is incorporated in the chain to place tension on the lever arm after it is inserted in the pocket 54. The chain 62 serves to lock the pivotable rear section or frame 25 in position when the truck 14 is in motion.

An additional safety lock is provided, as best seen in FIG. 7. A threaded shank 68 of an L-shaped bolt 69 is adapted to project through an aperture 70 in an extension 72 ofa rail 18 and thread into a nut 66 welded to a base member 36, thereby to lock the frame 25 and rails I8 against relative movement. A chain 74 is attached to the bolt 69 to prevent its becoming lost.

As will be observed particularly in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, a bead 78, preferably a **-inch round steel rod, is welded to the upper end of the forward most bottom plate 50. This rod 78 serves to shift the weight of the trusses slightly to the rear and more closely into engagement with the rear most bottom plate 48. The load is thus slightly unbalanced to the rear of the shaft 30.

A tube or rod 80 extends between the U-shaped base members 36 and the upper surface of the tube 80 lies substantially in a plane coextensive with the upper surface of the rear bot tom plate 48. Welded braces 82 extend between the gusset plates and the base members 36 to give additional stability to the side elements.

Loading is customarily accomplished by lifting the banded trusses into place by a crane, however, the loading could be done by hand or in any other desired manner.

Unloading is accomplished by unthrcading the L-shaped bolt 69 from the nut 66, releasing the toggle latch 64 and removing the lever arm 58 from the pocket 54 releasing chains 22 and allowing the frame 25 to pivot by gravity until the rear end portions of the trusses touch the ground. Then the truck 14, or other conveyance, is pulled forward slowly while the trusses ride on the rounded bearing surface of the tube 80 until one side of the trusses is flat on the ground. The rounded bearing member 80 serves the dual function of a stabilizing support for the unitary frame 25 and a curved bearing surface for the trusses during unloading. This bearing surface prevents gouging or cutting of the trusses to any substantial extent.

For ease of description the principles of the invention have been set forth in connection with but a single illustrated embodiment. It is not intended that the illustrated embodiment nor the terminology employed in describing it be limiting inasmuch as variations may be made by one having ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Rather, it is intended that any restrictions on the invention be limited to the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A rack for carrying trusses with their peak inverted comprising,

a unitary frame mounted on a shaft, said shaft being supported on a conveyance,

said frame including side elements extending radially of the shaft to hold the trusses in upright position,

oppositely sloped bottom support plates extending between the side elements,

said bottom support plates being fixed to the side elements to engage the trusses, the plates being spaced apart on each side of the inverted truss peak so that the peaks of the trusses rest in the space between the plates,

said frame being rotatable about the axis of said shaft inde' pendent of said conveyance,

a lever arm fixed to said frame and means to hold said arm in position to prevent rotation of said frame.

2. The rack of claim 1 including means for locking the unitary frame in position for transporting the trusses.

3. The rack of claim 1 including means fixed to said frame providing a rounded bearing surface for preventing cutting or gouging the trusses during the unloading operation.

4. A rack for carrying trusses with their peak inverted comprising,

a pair of substantially horizontally extending side rails adapted to be fixed to the bed of a mobile transportation device, said rails including means for attaching straps or chains thereto which loop over the trusses,

a frame adapted to be fixed adjacent the rear end of the bed,

said frame including side elements pivotally mounted on a shaft and extending radially thereof,

a pair of bottom support plates for supporting the trusses, the plates being spaced apart on each side of the peak of said trusses so that the peaks of the trusses rest in the space between the plates,

a lever arm fixed to said frame and means to hold said arm in position to prevent rotation of said frame.

5. The rack of claim 1 wherein said holding means including a chain secured to said lever arm and to one of said rails.

6. The rack of claim 4 including an element on one rail overlapping a portion of said frame, aligned apertures through said overlapping element and frame, locking means extending through said apertures to lock the frame against pivoting.

7. The rack of claim 4 including upwardly extending standards fixed to the forward ends of said rails, said standards adapted to support one end of the trusses.

8. The rack of claim 4 including means fixed to said frame providing a rounded bearing surface for preventing cutting or gouging the trusses during the unloading operation. 

1. A rack for carrying trusses with their peak inverted comprising, a unitary frame mounted on a shaft, said shaft being supported on a conveyance, said frame including side elements extending radially of the shaft to hold the trusses in upright position, oppositely sloped bottom support plates extending between the side elements, said bottom support plates being fixed to the side elements to engage the trusses, the plates being spaced apart on each side of the inverted truss peak so that the peaks of the trusses rest in the space between the plates, said frame being rotatable about the axis of said shaft independent of said conveyance, a lever arm fixed to said frame and means to hold said arm in position to prevent rotation of said frame.
 2. The rack of claim 1 including means for locking the unitary frame in position for transporting the trusses.
 3. The rack of claim 1 including means fixed to said frame providing a rounded bearing surface for preventing cutting or gouging the trusses during the unloading operation.
 4. A rack for carrying trusses with their peak inverted comprising, a pair of substantially horizontally extending side rails adapted to be fixed to the bed of a mobile transportation device, said rails including means for attaching straps or chains thereto which loop over the trusses, a frame adapted to be fixed adjacent the rear end of the bed, said frame including side elements pivotally mounted on a shaft and extending radially thereof, a pair of bottom support plates for supporting the trusses, the plates being spaced apart on each side of the peak of said trusses so that the peaks of the trusses rest in the space between the plates, a lever arm fixed to said frame and means to hold said arm in position to prevent rotation of said frame.
 5. The rack of claim 1 wherein said holding means including a chain secured to said lever arm and to one of said rails.
 6. The rack of claim 4 including an element on one rail overlapping a portion of said frame, aligned apertures through said overlapping element and frame, locking means extending through said apertures to lock the frame against pivoting.
 7. The rack of claim 4 including upwardly extending standards fixed to the forward ends of said rails, said standards adapted to support one end of the trusses.
 8. The rack of claim 4 including means fixed to said frame providing a rounded bearing surface for preventing cutting or gouging the trusses during the unloadIng operation. 